Poll: America’s Approval Rating Of Congress Hits All-Time Low

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 01: The U.S. Capitol building can be seen on August 1, 2011 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate will each vote today on a agreement to extend the federal debt limit while enacting spending cuts.Ã (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)File photo of the U.S. Capitol building. (credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – America’s approval rating of Congress is the lowest it has been in nearly four decades, according to new Gallup Poll data.

New research indicates that 83 percent of people disapprove of the job Congress is doing, while just 10 percent of Americans approve of what Congress is doing. The data for the month of August points to the 10-percent approval rating being tied for the lowest rating in the 38-year history of Gallup measuring this category.

Since February, the only other time the approval rating hit 10 percent, the approval rating of Congress hasn’t eclipsed 17 percent in any month. According to the data, the approval rating hasn’t hit a monthly rate of 20 percent in more than a year. The 10-percent clip represents a six-point drop from last month.

“It is difficult to pinpoint precise causes for these extraordinarily negative views, although the continuing poor economy is certainly a major factor,” the poll’s author wrote. “The fact that control of Congress is now divided, with a Republican majority in the House and a Democratic majority in the Senate, may provide an opportunity for Americans of all political persuasions to dislike some aspect of Congress. With Congress divided, however, it is difficult to assess what impact its low ratings will have on the November elections, now less than three months away.”

Republicans had a slightly better approval rating than the Democrats, but that’s not saying much in this case. The Republicans had a 10-percent approval rating, while the Democrats carried a 9-percent clip.

When it comes to the November election, the data concluded that there’s no telling how the recent statistics would affect people’s viewpoint of Mitt Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan.